


heavenly bodies

by luvvbott



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Lots of stars, M/M, Past Relationship(s), Stars, poetic bullshit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-08-10 14:24:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20136913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luvvbott/pseuds/luvvbott
Summary: Kieran loved the night, and so did Arthur.





	heavenly bodies

**Author's Note:**

> hozier got me feeling poetic or something.

It was quite a heavenly sight, Kieran concludes.

The night sky was peppered with bright stars; much more than usual. It seemed to shine even brighter for dreamers living in borrowed time such as himself. Kieran can fool himself and point at a bundle of stars in the sky and name a constellation and maybe he does, maybe he is reminded of Branwen as several cascading stars line to a poor outline of a horse - what was it like to draw anyway?

His legs swing as his eyes continued to observe every glimmer in the sky, his stew has gone cold but when you've been subjected to starvation, food tends to be overrated especially if it wasn't an enjoyable meal to begin with. 

And that night, Kieran wishes. He closes his tired eyes and closed them tight, he did. And from his chapped lips, out came the wishes of a dreamer, a dreamer who craves comfort and security, he talked to the stars with desperate pleas. 

"Make everything alright."

He begs, his hands shaking as he clasped them together, praying to the shining bits that brightened the dark sky. 

His tears well up and his lips quiver, and like a mantra, he wishes again. He asks again, and he begs again.

Just like he does every night. Every night spent behind the bushes, just above a muddy patch of land.

The asks out loud if the stars can deliver a message to his Mammy and Pappy, they were good people; better than he has turned out to be, at least. 

Kieran whispers: "Are you listening?" And he truly wonders if they are, because he knows deep inside that he has become a disappointment. His Mammy and Pappy would have opted for his own apple farm than see him point guns and shoot lead to those who have it worse than he did.

And he promises, once again, that things will be different. He'll stand up for himself, his legs will no longer quiver in fear and he could finally look at them in the eye.

Foolish. He knows. But dreamers like him have always been; foolish that is.

"Kieran?"

"Sir?"

"Am I bothering you?"

Kieran looked at Arthur, his green eyes softer than they usually were.

"No sir, surprised you ask."

Arthur shrugged and came closer, "Would you mind?" He asked, gesturing to the space next to him.

"No."

"What are you doing up so late?"

"Talkin' to the stars like some buffoon."

"We're all idiots in our own way."

"Like you and that journal." Kieran jokes, whining as he felt Arthur's elbow jab him on the side, "I'm kidding."

Arthur huffed in reply and Kieran looked up at the sky once again, Arthur following suit.

"What do you tell the stars?"

"Just things. Let 'em pass the message to my Mammy and Pappy."

"Think they'll pass the message of a criminal like me?"

"I'm sure they won't mind."

And the two sit in silence once again, both deep in thought, conversations held with those they've lost. Kieran with his parents and Arthur with Eliza and Isaac; an apology formed and said.

"How'd ya know if they heard it?"

"You just feel it."

And perhaps Arthur did, that pull on his chest; subtle but present. And he smiles, even in the afterlife, Eliza still has a heart for the things he says. Forgiveness is miles away, but it's a start.

"I'll get going." Arthur mumbles, prepared to leave yet he stares at the scrawny man next to him. Enamored with the way the sky clashed with the brightness of his green eyes.

Another night, perhaps.

Arthur stands and squeezes Kieran's shoulder. Kieran beams, holding the warm hand in place before letting go.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

✨

"Are you there?"

Arthur calls out, to nothingness really. The mud under his boots making the most unpleasant of noises and the light growling done by the gators that infest their rivers filling his senses

And Arthur sighs, loud and sad. His hands itching to remove his hat and rest it upon his chest. 

"You must be."

And Arthur looks up, the sky wasn't as bright as he wished it was. But the stars were up there, and they still glimmered. Kieran would have loved that. 

"Would you listen to me?"

And he forms another apology, different from yesterday which was different from the day before that. Something new, something sincere. 

"Sorry."  _ That he was too late. _

"Sorry."  _ That he wasn't there to protect them. _

"Sorry."  _ That even as he ages, he remains to be the fool that he was decades ago. _

And Arthur cries, quiet and hidden amongst the noises of the night, his lips quiver and his knees give in, hitting the damp ground with a loud squelch.

"Kieran." He whispers in the wind. "I'm sorry."

And he whimpers as the tug he wished to feel was absent, that perhaps he would no longer be forgiven for his accumulating sins. 

And he is quiet, the wind harsh on his weathered face, and the sounds it picks up makes his ears ring.

And he hears him.

Subtle, sweet, soft  _ and scared _ . Like he always has been. 

"I'm sorry." 

"I know."

And from a distance, he hears horses, the rhythmic beating of their hooves as they ride in the wild, and they ride far. 

And Arthur closes his eyes. The reassuring tug in his chest present and accounted for; and he feels Eliza, Isaac and Kieran. The warmth of their love spreading like fire from within him and he, though hesitantly, smiles and looks up.

"Kieran, the stars look lovely tonight."

And he knows that in the center of it all, the brightest one that shined in a way that would put the others to shame was him.

**Author's Note:**

> um :---) idk I tried to give it a specific tone .


End file.
